Three years after issuing $7 million in certificates of obligation to improve downtown, the Odessa City Council is getting ready to choose a design firm.
According to city documents, the city began seeking qualified design firms in March and two firms submitted proposals. A committee comprised of a Downtown Odessa board member, city staff and a tax increment reinvestment board member met with representatives of the two firms and are now recommending KDC Associates of Midland for the job.
If selected, KDC would help the city start implementing the downtown master plan it approved back in February. The company would receive $648,350 for its services.
The council will hear more about KDC at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled work session meeting.
The council hopes to transform downtown Odessa into a major destination for residents and visitors, with several art, entertainment and cultural opportunities. They also hope to make Odessa’s downtown attractive and safe for pedestrians.
Eventually, downtown Odessa will be dotted with wayfinding signage, public art, benches, bike racks, wider sidewalks and attractive landscaping, including planter beds and trees. It will also have a multi-purpose urban plaza.
The city council is also expected to hear an update from Evergreen Solutions, which was hired to conduct an employee compensation study for all Odessa government employees. The company was asked to focus on public safety employees first, however, because Odessa Fire Rescue has lost more than 60 firefighters over the last two years.
In addition, the council will consider awarding bids for new trash collection trucks, new trash containers and a new sewer truck line for Faudree Road.
According to city documents, city employees would like to purchase $357,000 worth of new side-loading refuse containers, self-contained compactors and toter nestable carts to replace containers that have deteriorated. They’d also like to purchase four side-load collection trucks and a roll off truck for roughly $1.6 million.
City documents indicate the city received five bids to build a Line ‘Q’ Sewer Trunk that will serve from Faudree Road and Business Interstate 20 on the south to Parks Bell subdivisions north of State Highway 191. The line will consist of 34,000 feet of gravity sewer main that will go as deep as 25 feet and be as big around as 36 inches.
City staff recommends the city award the contract of roughly $13 million to Harper Brothers Construction, which submitted the lowest bid of the five. The contract would include an extra 25% for contingencies.
The city council will also hear a proposal to add three new people to the Odessa Rotary Clubs Walkway Walk of Fame at Memorial Gardens Park. The 2022 nominees are Charles Cotten, Miles A. Eckert and R.C. Paulette.
